Kloster Andechs: Vollbier Hell $3.49 @ Bevmo

Admittedly, I’m actually unemployed at the moment and have been spending my time looking for another job. Despite that though, I actually bought this bottle of Kloster Andech Vollbier Hell a few weeks back when I still had a job and kept it for just such an occasion when I would be tight on cash. Lo and behold, no job, and tight on cash. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not broke, per se, but when your primary source of income gets cut off, I have to go into survival mode until my next gig. If my memory serves me correctly, I believe I bought this when it was on sale at $3.49 a bottle, which when you think about it, it’s retail price is $3.69, so I only saved a whopping 20 cents on this bottle. Nevertheless, every cent saved is a cent earned.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this beer as I’m not even sure what type of beer this is. The only part that gives it away is its transparency through the beer bottle and then towards the bottom of the label, it says “Super Premium Bavarian Lager” so I can expect it to taste light and clean. The only thing is that it’s not a straight lager. It has a bit of sour taste to it. It’s not bad. It’s almost like drinking a hefeweizen minus the cloudy texture.

It’s rated at an ABV of 4.8%, which is just a step above a Pabst Blue Ribbon, which is rated at 4.64%, if I’m not mistaken. The good news is that it doesn’t really leave much of a sticky residue on one’s lips and it’s more on the dry side insofar as beer is concerned. Then when I turn the bottle around to the back side, it says it’s made of water, barley and hops. That’s it. I’m not sure if I’m even tasting the barley malt but the hops? If it’s there, it’s practically non-existent. I can barely feel that classic tingle on the side of my tongue but not much more than that.

All in all, I’d say you should give this beer a shot. The only negative I can really point out here is that sourness that adds a bit of a tang to it. I’m not sure if that is inherently part of the beer but that taste threw me off after seeing that it’s a bavarian lager.